Keep in touch.
Life in the vineyard
  • Blog
  • Sermons
  • About

Pokemon Go! Christian GO!

7/24/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
During the week, I discovered that the church is a PokeStop. If you're not following along with the news of the game PokemonGO - this might not mean anything to you. But let me assure you - this is a very good thing! Folks who play the game can come stand in front of the church and collect "Pokeballs" which allow them to trap their little (sometimes) furry friends.

So let me get this out of the way - I know virtually nothing about Pokemon. From what I
 understand, you train these little creatures you catch, and match them against others. And there's all kinds of intricacies and special skills and powers to learn and figure out. I am not an expert on any of that. But what I find striking about this new game is that it forces you (kids, us, one generally) to get out into the world.

In order to accomplish anything, you and your smart phone need to go out into the world and walk around. You have to visit places. You have to go exploring - and ultimately this probably means that you'll have to interact with other people, and be alert to your surroundings. In a world that is increasingly filled with screens, where we seem to be further and further apart because of our technology, this is sort of a fascinating thing. A game that forces you to get up out of your chair, leave the house, and go out into the world. You cannot play the game sitting at home. You have to get out - and go and be a part of this wide, strange, bright world we live in.

As a priest, I find this fascinating. Because this is just what the Gospel wants us to do. To get up out of our pews, up off of our sofas, and go out into the world to interact with it. To be in it - but not of it; but to be part of the world for Jesus. So, the goal of the game and of the Christian life are decidedly different - but I find the metaphor rather intriguing.

​This new game is hugely popular. There are a ton of kids engaging with it - and some adults have started to play, too. People who never knew anything about Pokemon before are downloading the app and hitting the streets. It's a whole phenomenon - and everywhere I go - there are people walking around, looking around, and talking to each other about what they've seen and how they're doing.

It seems to me that we ought to be thinking about how we could make our faith so accessible - our quest for holiness some compelling - our love for God so palpable. I don't have the answers to these questions - but I think together we ought to be able to come up with some of the answers. Dare I say...should there be an app for that? (Sorry! Couldn't resist!) What can we learn from this new trend?

More to the point, perhaps, how can we train ourselves, like the folks playing this game, to see and interact with the world in a new way? How can we teach ourselves to be alert to our surroundings - to the chances we are given to love and serve our neighbors? And how can we re-think our interactions with the physical locations and people around us? Our cell phones won't necessarily vibrate to tell us to wonder about these things - like it does in the game when there's a creature to catch - so how can we help each other to really see?

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    The Rev. Marissa S. Rohrbach is an Episcopal priest, writer, and spiritual wanderer. She is blessed to serve as Rector and partner-in-ministry to God's beloved at
    St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Wilton, CT. 
    The views expressed here are her own and do not represent the views of any other body or insititution. 

    Archives

    July 2020
    March 2020
    December 2018
    August 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Beloved
    Calendar
    Christmas
    Inheritance
    Jesus
    Learn
    Magic
    Ministry
    Mountain
    Perfect
    Perspective
    Planning
    Retreat
    Season
    Silence
    Transfiguration
    Vineyard

    Want to follow along?
    Click below to get updates!

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly